Swindon council fines Thames Water more than 70 times in six months

Conservative Councillor Matthew Vallender lodged two questions for the leader of the authority Councillor Jim Robbins, asking what he’s doing to get the water company to improve its performance and how many fines the council has issued to the company.

The answer to the second question is that in this financial year alone,72 fines have been issued.

Of these, 55 are fixed penalty notices at £120 each, or £80 is paid within 28 days, meaning the money raised could range from £6,600 to £4,400.

The other 17 fines are overrun fines issued under section 74 of the New Road & Street Works Act 1991 and they are somewhat more complicated.

The council said they haven’t been haven’t all been agreed or mitigated yet, but depending on how busy and important the road the road is and the size of the works, the fines can be as high as £25,000 per day to as low as £100 per day.

Those figures are from the government website. Information provided later by Swindon Borough Council says that in the borough the highest daily charge would be £10,000 and the lowest £250.

Councillor Robbins told Cllr Vallender that he hoped to meet bosses form the water company very soon, and was taking backup with him as he expected a robust conversation: “I have arranged a meeting for me, the Swindon North and Swindon South MPs, and the cabinet member for the environment and transport next month to meet with Thames Water to have a full and frank discussion.”

Thames Water confirmed that it had invited councillors Robbins and Watts and MPs Will Stone and Heidi Alexander for talks.

Earlier this year Cllr Robbins published an open letter to Thames Water which he said was co-signed by more than 200 residents. It said the company should: “Publish a detailed infrastructure upgrade plan for Swindon, including timelines and investment figures, and improve communication protocols during incidents.

“It should provide a transparent breakdown of billing increases, including how funds will be allocated to infrastructure and environmental protection.”

In August, just before writing his open letter, Cllr Robbins branded Thames Water “useless” in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, after Wootton Basset Road was closed for two days by a burst water pipe.

The council leader wrote: "Another day of uselessness from Thames Water.

"They closed Wootton Bassett Road for a water leak and then failed to clear their roadworks from Marlborough Road by the 3.30pm deadline.

"Totally unacceptable, caused gridlock, we’ll be looking to fine them to stop it happening again."